The Hollywood Liberal

Late Late Night FDL: You Upset Me Baby
Joe Bonamassa — You Upset Me Baby, Rockpalast, 2005.

Joe Bonamassa — You Upset Me Baby, Rockpalast, 2005.

What’s on your mind?

?

As opposed to “The Party of Screw You”
How dare the Democratic Part keep people from starving! The new GOP talking point.

A man who hasn’t missed too many meals, by Joe Crimmings Photography at Flickr.com

Newt Gingrich, last seen using Muslims as scapegoats — part of a lifetime of scapegoating anyone who doesn’t fit into his demographic — is back. And as always it’s classy:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich today published a memo to Republican candidates urging them to cast the Democratic Party as the party of food stamps while calling the GOP the party of paychecks.

So it’s both ill-phrased and a lie. In other words it was something said by Newt Gingrich.

Yes, Newt, the Democrats are the Party responsible for food stamps, they were passed by them, they own them. For generations, the Democratic Party has thus been the party of not letting people starve.

Making your Party, the GOP, the Party of Famine.

?

Privacy Please

By Mr. Fish

Related Entries

• October 6, 2010 Tom Perriello’s Political Experiment
• October 5, 2010 Tea Party Socialism

Weighing Free Speech Against Hate Speech
What do you get when you mix issues regarding a fallen soldier, free speech, homophobia and gays in the military and throw in hatemonger pastor Fred Phelps and Larry Flynt’s famous court battle with Jerry Fallwell? A big legal tangle, that’s what, and one that the Supreme Court was puzzling over on Wednesday.  —KA USA Today: Supreme Court justices expressed empathy Wednesday for a father whose Marine Corps son was killed in Iraq and whose funeral was protested by fundamentalist pastor Fred Phelps and his anti-gay followers. “This is a case about exploiting a private family’s grief,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said. Yet, the scope of the justices’ questions during the hour-long session revealed the difficulty of the case and the reality that the court’s free-speech precedents make it hard for individuals to claim they have been harmed by even horrific statements regarding public issues. Even with their sympathy for the bereaved father, the justices, including key vote Anthony Kennedy, were clearly struggling with how to avoid a ruling that encroaches on legitimate, although hateful, protest messages. Read more

What do you get when you mix issues regarding a fallen soldier, free speech, homophobia and gays in the military and throw in hatemonger pastor Fred Phelps and Larry Flynt’s famous court battle with Jerry Fallwell? A big legal tangle, that’s what, and one that the Supreme Court was puzzling over on Wednesday.? —KA

USA Today:

Supreme Court justices expressed empathy Wednesday for a father whose Marine Corps son was killed in Iraq and whose funeral was protested by fundamentalist pastor Fred Phelps and his anti-gay followers.

“This is a case about exploiting a private family’s grief,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Yet, the scope of the justices’ questions during the hour-long session revealed the difficulty of the case and the reality that the court’s free-speech precedents make it hard for individuals to claim they have been harmed by even horrific statements regarding public issues.

Even with their sympathy for the bereaved father, the justices, including key vote Anthony Kennedy, were clearly struggling with how to avoid a ruling that encroaches on legitimate, although hateful, protest messages.

Read more

Related Entries

• October 6, 2010 Tom Perriello’s Political Experiment
• October 5, 2010 Tea Party Socialism

Paul Abrams: How Democrats Could Sweep Governors and State Legislatures Races.
A little-discussed provision of the Affordable Health Care Act (i.e., “Obamacare”) provides an extraordinary opening for Democratic Gubernatorial and State Legislative candidates to deliver a…

Waivers Address Talk Of Dropping Health Coverage
As Obama administration officials put into place the first major wave of changes under the health care legislation, they have tried to defuse stiffening resistance…

Military Base Security To Increase Under Joint FBI-Pentagon Program
WASHINGTON — Nearly a year after a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, the Pentagon is taking new steps to beef up security and surveillance…

Chris Weigant: If California Legalizes Marijuana, How Will Obama React?
California legalizing marijuana seems to have become a very real possibility, and how Obama’s going to handle it will be important. The state could become a “test-case” in challenging federal laws on the matter.

Palin “speak[s] through” Dancing with the Stars , not network news

Since January 1, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin has not appeared on any network news program. She has, however, been interviewed on one network television program: ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

2010: Palin appears on Dancing with the Stars, but not on the news programs of ABC, CBS, or NBC

Palin discussed her daughter’s participation on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Palin was interviewed for 45 seconds on the September 27 edition of Dancing with the Stars. During the interview, she discussed the program and the participation of her daughter Bristol, a contestant:

TOM BERGERON, CO-HOST, DANCING WITH THE STARS:  I’m here with guest ballroom commentator, Sarah Palin, who joins us from Alaska. Sarah, great to have you here. Now, I know usually you’re very bashful about giving your opinion about things, but how do you think the show’s going so far?

SARAH PALIN:  This is amazing, it’s so exciting. And it’s great to see all this courage and joy and exuberance by every dancer. It’s awesome.

BERGERON:  Now what do you think about those three? (nodding to the judges)

PALIN:  Oh, the judges are awesome. Okay, now, it’s like before a hockey game. You’re not gonna chew out the refs before your team is up to — you know, up on the ice. So they’re great! You guys are doing great!

BERGERON: And your favorite dancer so far?

PALIN:  So — oh my goodness, they’re all amazing. They really are. This is great. Bristol’s not up yet. Yes, Bristol the pistol. That’s who we’re rooting (unclear).

BERGERON: Guest commentator Sarah Palin with us.

Palin has not appeared on any network news program this year. According to a Media Matters for America search of the Nexis database, Palin has not appeared on the news programs of ABC, CBS, or NBC between January 1 and October 6:

Palin regularly “speak[s] through” Fox News

As Media Matters has previously documented, between January 1 and September 18, Palin was interviewed 37 times on Fox News, compared to zero appearances on the news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC. During a September 15 interview on The O’Reilly Factor, Palin advised Christine O’Donnell, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Delaware, to “speak to the American people. Speak through Fox News and let the Independents who are tuning in to you, let them know what it is that she stands for, the principles behind her positions.”

*Media Matters’ search was limited to transcripts available in the Nexis database, so it covers most evening shows on Fox News, and morning shows, evening news, and Sunday shows on the broadcast networks.

Media Matters counted pre-taped interviews as appearances, but not brief statements by Palin that aired as part of news packages.

Napolitano: Speculation About ‘Lake Pirates’ Story Is ‘Unwarranted’
Speculation about the veracity of the story from the wife of an American man apparently killed after being shot by “lake pirates” on Falcon Lake along the Texas-Mexico border was “unwarranted,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday.

Mitt Romney Ditches Mitt.ly After Libya Shuts Down Sex-Positive .ly Site
After the Libyan government shut down a “sex-positive” .ly site, probable presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) says he is switching his PAC web site to more friendly domains.

The Tattlesnake – Unuttered Utterations and Which Witch is Which? Edition
– Tattlesnake’s ‘Media Insider’ says cool cats and kittens should not be swayed by the ‘official’ story regarding Rick Sanchez’s bouncing from the Corporatist News Network otherwise known as CNN. The reason Jon Stewart’s hilarious portrayals of Sanchez as something of a babbling idiot were so devastating is because, well, he’s something of a babbling […]

Paladino’s Support Collapses in New York
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York finds Andrew Cuomo (D) regaining a wide lead over Carl Paladino (R) in the race for governor among likely voters, 55% to 37%.

A similar poll two weeks ago had Cuomo ahead by just six points.

Said pollster Maurice Carroll: “Since Quinnipiac University’s last poll two weeks ago, it’s been a looney-tunes time for Paladino in the news media – one time in a face-to-face fight with a reporter – and it shows. Cuomo moves into a double-digit lead. After the dust settled from Paladino’s big primary win, the big switch was in the independent vote – a small edge for Paladino two weeks ago turns into a small edge for Cuomo this time.”

Watch This Week in Blackness — What About That So-Called ‘Enthusiasm Gap’ for the Dems?
Host Elon James White discusses the upcoming midterm elections and the "enthusiasm gap" that seems to be happening in the Democratic base.

Host Elon James White discusses the upcoming midterm elections and the "enthusiasm gap" that seems to be happening in the Democratic base.

Hightower: Wall Street Megalomaniacs Cry About Having to Pay Their Taxes
The most pampered people on the planet — people who wallow in luxury, with never a concern about losing a job or getting their kids into college — are wailing in self-pity.

The most pampered people on the planet — people who wallow in luxury, with never a concern about losing a job or getting their kids into college — are wailing in self-pity.

Why Are There So Many Right-Wing Extremist Women?
The face of the right-wing is increasingly female. Why?

The face of the right-wing is increasingly female. Why?

How the Phone Companies Are Screwing America: The $320 Billion Broadband Rip-Off
Americans are stuck with an inferior and overpriced communications system, compared with the rest of the world, and we’re being ripped off in the process.

Americans are stuck with an inferior and overpriced communications system, compared with the rest of the world, and we're being ripped off in the process.

Israeli & Palestinian Kids Make Peace
George Mitchell clearly can’t do it. Binyamin Netanyahu won’t do it. And Mahmoud Abbas can’t put it over. But watch these Israeli and Palestinian kids making peace through the Beautiful Game. Thank God for the kids. And pray that…

US Bases Abroad Trigger Suicide Terrorism: Are There Other Options?
Can it be that American military bases abroad, usually thought of as “stabilizers” in tough neighborhoods, are really the primary cause of radical terrorism against the US and its allies? That is what Robert Pape and James K. Feldman compellingly…

Tell Israel: Freeze Settlements Or We Slow Down The Aid
The Obama administration’s attempts at seducing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu are getting embarrassing. Netanyahu has made it quite clear he is just not into Obama. According to Haaretz, the latest (and most cringeworthy) moment in the saga came this week…


Israel – United States – Benjamin Netanyahu – Dennis Ross – Prime minister

VIDEO: Asked About The Chamber?s Foreign Funding And Ad Campaign, Roy Blunt Cuts And Runs

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported an exclusive story on how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the big business lobbying juggernaut running an unprecedented $75 million dollar attack campaign against Democrats in midterms this year — is actively fundraising from foreign corporations and foreign nationals, and depositing the money in the same 501(c)(6) account used to run its campaign advertisements. Dues from foreign corporations have flowed into the Chamber’s coffers, including from government-run companies like the State Bank of India and the Bahrain Petroleum Company. ThinkProgress has reported at least $300,000 in foreign money to the Chamber from Bahrain and India alone.

Following ThinkProgress’ report, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) wrote to the FEC — a federal agency that has ironically “been rendered toothless by its Republican members” — asking it to launch an investigation and to insist that foreign companies prove whether their funds had been used in campaign activities. Today, outside of a fundraiser for Nevada’s GOP U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle at the National Republican Campaign Committee, ThinkProgress asked Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), a candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, if he would comment on the story. After hearing the question, Blunt quickly turned and began walking away briskly towards the Union Station building. He initially simply ignored the question, then took out his phone and pressed it against his face. Eventually, Blunt replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about” and told ThinkProgress to “talk to the Chamber”:

TP: Congressman Blunt? We reported at ThinkProgress yesterday that the Chamber of Commerce is accepting money from foreign corporations and using that same bank account for buying attack ads. If you’re elected to the Senate will you investigate this? Excuse me, Roy Blunt? Sir, the Chamber of Commerce has admitted that it’s accepting foreign money from businesses like the Bahrain Petroleum Company and they’re using that same bank account to run attack ads. Will you investigate the use of foreign money in our election[s]?

TP: Congressman Blunt? Pardon me, Congressman Blunt? Congressman Blunt? [BLUNT takes out cellphone] We reported yesterday at ThinkProgress that the Chamber of Commerce is fundraising from foreign companies, in India and Bahrain and many other places, uh, they’re using that same bank account run attack ads. Are you going to investigate this? […]

BLUNT: …And the event went fine. Good. Good. Really? Okay.

TP: Excuse me, Congressman Blunt? I have a membership application that the Chamber of Commerce is distributing in Bahrain asking for funds for the same bank account – the same campaign account – used to run campaign advertisements here in America. Do you have any comment on that?

BLUNT: I have no idea what you’re talking about. Talk to the Chamber, I have no idea.

Watch it:

In August, Blunt announced that he received the Chamber’s endorsement. Currently, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ads trashing Blunt’s Democratic opponent, Robin Carnahan. The ads are run out of the same 501(c)(6) account used to fund raise from foreign sources.

Notably, Blunt has voted for many of the Chamber’s top priorities, including unfettered free trade deals, protecting tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas, and against Wall Street regulatory reform.

Angle And Vitter Use The Same Photo Of ?Illegal Aliens? In Racially-Tinged Attack Ads

Last month, Nevada senatorial candidate Sharron Angle (R) released an ad that portrayed opponent Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) as being the “best friend an illegal alien ever had.” This month, Angle’s latest racially-tinged ad goes after Reid and his support of undocumented students. The ad includes offensive footage of menacing men with flashlights walking along a fence that was featured in her first ad in addition to a new image featuring three scowling Latino men as the narrator proclaims, “and now Harry Reid is fighting for a program that would give preferred college tuition rates to none other than illegal aliens.” Watch it:

Reid’s campaign released a fact check and a statement on the ad saying, “despicably, Angle’s new ad ramps up her use of incendiary imagery to appeal to Nevadans’ worst fears, while using the exact same thoroughly-debunked lies from her first two ads — lies that independent analysts and fact-checkers have called out as false.” However, Angle isn’t the only Republican lawmaker to invoke negative anti-Latino stereotypes. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) used the same exact photo in one of his own attack ads:

The Wonk Room puts Angle’s allegations in context and outlines her troubling pattern of racially-tinged ads.